Undercover
by IHaveNargles
Summary: Months after defeating the BO, Shinichi gets a call from Ran. She wants him to help her father with a case and he reluctantly accepts it.
1. Prologue

Prologue

It's currently nine o'clock at night on a Friday night and Shinichi was working on some homework in his room, when his phone rang. "Hello?"

"Shinichi, can you do a favor for me?" It was Ran.

"Sure, what is it?" This was the first time Ran had called him since the organization got taken down. She was pretty angry when he had finally told her about what happened and the two of them just recently started talking to each other without it being awkward.

"Dad just got a new client and the client wants him to go undercover as a single father with two kids about our age. So, I was wondering if you could help him out." Shinichi frowned.

"Does he even want me to be there?" The last time he spoke with the older detective, he nearly escaped with his life. Mouri Kogorou was the angriest one out of him and Ran. The older detective thought Shinichi saw everything that happened as a game and disregarded Ran's feelings and such. Shinichi knew when he wasn't wanted, especially when the older detective was involved.

"He's calmed down since the last time you saw him and thought about the whole situation. He told me so yesterday. He said that now he thought about it, the decisions you made were decisions he would've made if he were put in your shoes." Shinichi was relieved to hear that, but he was still going to be wary of the older detective. Kogorou did man handle him at that time. "So will you please help him out?" Shinichi sighed.

"Yeah, sure." Ran sighed in relief.

"I'm glad. I'll tell him right away!"

"When do you want me to come over?"

"Dad said the client was going to come by again tomorrow around 9:30." Why so early? Shinichi thought dreadfully.

"Alright, I'll be there."

"Thank you so much, Shinichi!"

"Oh, it's no problem." Then Ran hung up. Shinichi sighed again. Tomorrow was going to be eventful that's for sure.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Shinichi groaned as he turned his alarm clock off. It was 8:00am and he was sure if he had forgotten to set his alarm, he would've been late and Ran and possibly Kogorou-san, would've killed him. He didn't get to bed until after 10:00, so he was feeling pretty tired about now. Nevertheless, Shinichi rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. This was an important day for Kogorou-san and hopefully, Shinichi could patch things up with him as well, if what Ran said was true. Shinichi had enough time for his two cups of coffee and toast before he headed over to the Mouri residence. He figured it would be best to show up before the client did. Shinichi yawned a bit as he started his walk. His phone started ringing halfway to the home turned detective agency. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Shinichi!" It was Ran again.

"Good morning, Ran."

"I was just calling to make sure you were up."

"I'm about halfway to your house."

"Great! I'll see you when you get here."

"Yeah, see you." Shinichi said before hanging up. Did she really doubt him that much? Well, he didn't blame her after he lied to her for over a year about what he was doing. Shinichi finally rounded the corner to the Mouri residence and went into the office part of the building. He decided it was best to just knock.

"Hey Shinichi," Ran said opening the door and smiling. Shinichi smiled back.

"Hi Ran."

"What have you been doing lately? I haven't seen you much after school." She said as he followed her into the room.

"Sorry, I've been trying to catch back up on homework." She nodded.

"It's okay. Did you want something to drink?"

"Water is fine." She nodded and went into the kitchen. Kogorou-san walked in sometime after Ran had went into the kitchen.

"I see you've made it." He said greeting Shinichi.

"Yes, I wanted to get here before your client did." Shinichi wanted to ask what exactly it was they were doing, but decided it would be best to wait until the client showed up. "You look well," Kogorou-san snorted.

"Yeah, well, I haven't been getting as much business."

"I'm sorry." Shinichi meant it too. He didn't mean to hurt Ran or her father. He tried to get Megure-keibu to ask Kogorou-san for help on cases instead, but from what Ran has told him, the cases didn't go as well as they did when Shinichi was the one on the cases. The last case though, Ran had contacted him and asked for help. Shinichi of course didn't hesitate. He didn't want Kogorou-san to go back to the way he was before Shinichi showed up as Conan.

"You don't look too good though." Kogorou-san said, ignoring Shinichi's apology. Shinichi shrugged.

"I've pulled a few overnights."

"It looks to me like you've pulled more than a few overnights." It was true. Shinichi had been staying up late almost every night these last few weeks. The reason for some of those nights weren't because of homework, but Kogorou-san didn't know that.

"Yes," Shinichi admitted. "I've been trying to get caught up on school work." Shinichi almost considered on giving up on school, because there was so much work, but he didn't. He needed to finish high school.

"Shinichi, you should be careful about getting more sleep." Ran said walking into the room with a tray of drinks. She handed Shinichi the cup of water.

"Thanks," He said as he accepted the cup. "I know, but I'm almost finished." The conversation stayed on Shinichi's sleeping habits until the client showed up.

"Hello, Sakaguchi-san," Kogorou-san greeted the client.

"Hello, Detective Mouri. Who might this be?" Sakaguchi-san asked looking at Shinichi.

"I'm Kudo Shinichi," Shinichi said smiling at the client. "I'm going to be helping Mouri Kogorou-san here with the undercover operation." Kogorou-san looked at Shinichi in shock.

"Is this true, Detective Mouri?"

"A-Ah, yes," Kogorou-san said as he and the client took a seat on the sofas.

"That's good, I was worried since you only have Ran-chan. Have you told him what's going on?"

"No, I was going to wait until you got here."

"I see," Sakaguchi-san said sitting up straighter after taking a drink of his tea. "I'm the CEO of a photography company and for the last few weeks, some of my employees have been acting strange. I think they may be hiding something. You see, tonight I'm holding a company party. It's basically a celebration for a good month's work."

"And what is it that we're supposed to be doing?" Shinichi asked curiously.

"I asked Detective Mouri to check out my employees and figure out what they're hiding and in order to do so, I asked him to go undercover as a family friend."

"I see," Shinichi wanted to ask Sakaguchi-san some questions, but decided not to. It was Kogorou-san's case after all.

"You didn't tell me, but what about the employees make you think they're hiding something?" Kogorou-san asked curiously.

"Two days ago, I asked one of my employees, Takeda Kaori-san, what was wrong when I noticed her looking at the clock every thirty seconds or so. She'd done it the day before too. When I asked her that, she jumped and said it was nothing and when I pointed out that she had been looking at the clock a lot, she got mad and stormed into her office. She seemed really nervous when she came into work that day too. Also, another one of my employees, Fukuda Daiki-san, keeps offering to be the one to make tea for everyone or go out to get lunches for everyone. Normally I wouldn't complain, but he won't allow anyone else to go get that stuff."

That sent up a red flag in Shinichi's mind. "That is a little strange." Kogorou-san said thoughtfully.

"That's exactly why I came to ask you to do this. Also, I've been hearing some weird sounds outside my office door late at night."

"What kind of sounds?" Shinichi couldn't help himself.

"I keep hearing someone running from my door and down the hallway and then I'd hear the exit door slam open. So when I'd go check it out, the door would be closed. The first time I heard this, I thought someone was just trying to get me away from my office long enough to steal something, but when I got back to my office, nothing was taken." Shinichi had a bad feeling about tonight. Someone just spent the last two weeks planning something and it was bound to happen tonight.

"What time is the party?" Kogorou-san asked curiously.

"It's at 7:30 and you'll have to sign your name on a guest list that I'll have set up outside the doors. There will be security guards there, just in case something does happen."

"Ne, Sakaguchi-san, did you hear those noises again last night?" Shinichi asked hesitantly.

"No, they stopped happening two days ago." This wasn't good. That means the soon-to-be culprit was going to definitely put their plan into action tonight. "If it's okay with you, I would like you all to come to my office, so I can show you where the noises occur."

"Then, lead the way." Kogorou-san said standing up.

"Yes, of course." Soon, Shinichi found himself standing outside the building where Sakaguchi-san works with Kogorou-san and Ran. Sakaguchi-san led the group to his office. Shinichi didn't notice anything as they group made their way up to Sakaguchi-san's office, but he was more interested in the hallway to the exit door. Of course, he wasn't going to say anything because he decided since it was Kogorou-san's case, then he was going to let Kogorou-san do all the deductions and stuff. Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't have a look around. When they all arrived at Sakaguchi-san's office, Kogorou-san took a look around the room with Sakaguchi-san's permission. Shinichi waited outside the office, figuring that there wasn't anything in there to look at for the time being. He wanted to see what Takeda-san and Fukuda-san were up to. Maybe he could see them in action if he just stood outside the door.

"Shinichi, Otou-san wants you to see something." Ran said walking out of the office.

"Okay," Shinichi said frowning slightly as he went inside. He wanted to catch Takeda-san and Fukuda-san in action. When he walked in there, he saw Sakaguchi-san and Kogorou-san standing next to a safe. "What's going on?" Shinichi asked curiously.

"Inside this safe, there's some important documents that will destroy the company if it gets into the wrong hands." Sakaguchi-san said with a grave expression on his face. Shinichi nodded.

"So you're worried that whoever's been running through the hallway is going to steal these documents?"

"Yes,"

"Is there anyone else with the code to this safe?" Kogorou-san asked curiously.

"No, just myself and every employee knows that." This could turn out to be a full on murder case. Shinichi thought frowning.

"Sakaguchi-san, you should have someone guard your office and yourself tonight." Shinichi said still frowning.

"Eh? Why?" Ran asked wide-eyed. Kogorou-san nodded, apparently understanding Shinichi's suggestion.

"Because if every employee knows that Sakaguchi-san is the only one with the code to the safe, then the one who is after the documents might end up killing Sakaguchi-san." Kogorou-san explained. Shinichi was glad that Kogorou-san understood Shinichi's reasoning. He knew Kogorou-san wasn't stupid and did know a thing or two about detective work, but his deduction skills weren't the best. But, Shinichi thought, as the days went on with him as Conan, he noticed that Kogorou-san's deduction skills were getting better and he imagined they were even better since the last time Shinichi had spent time with Kogorou-san.

"Yes, I might just do that." Sakaguchi-san said thoughtfully.

"Do you mind showing us the exit door?" Kogorou-san asked him.

"Ah, yes, it's this way." Sakaguchi-san led them out of the office and down the hallway and to the exit door. Shinichi noticed it wasn't that far from Sakaguchi-san's office and wondered if the person running in the hallway at night was timing how long it would take for the person to get from the office to the exit door.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After they checked out the exit door, the group left the office building assuring Sakaguchi-san that they would be at the party. Shinichi didn't notice anything weird about the exit door, besides the hole on the wall outside of the door where the person slammed it open. Shinichi guessed he would get to observe Fukuda-san and Takeda-san at the party tonight. Hm, he wondered if he should wear his black suit or his blue one. "Did you notice how weird Sakaguchi-san was acting?" Ran asked suddenly as they walked to the bus stop.

"What do you mean?" Kogorou-san asked.

"When he was at our house, he seemed nervous and desperate, but when we got to his work, he was calm and normal..."

"Yeah, he seemed pretty nervous when he saw me." Shinichi said thoughtfully.

"Maybe he's hiding something." Kogorou-san suggested.

"I agree, I feel like he's not being completely honest." Ran said as the group boarded the bus. Shinichi wanted to say the same thing, but he was the one to talk. He spent over a year lying to Ran and Kogorou-san about what was going on. It was clear in Shinichi's mind that Kogorou-san wasn't completely over it. So Shinichi was sure Kogorou-san would've sent him a dirty look or something if he had said that.

"Maybe we'll find out more tonight at the party." Shinichi said yawning slightly. He was still tired from being up so late. He still had some homework to finish too. The three got off the bus and went their separate ways. Shinichi really just wanted to go back to bed, but he knew he needed to get his homework done and find something suitable for the party tonight. He set an alarm on his phone to go off at 5:30, so that he wouldn't forget about the party and so that he could get in a shower and something to eat before he had to go. He figured he wouldn't have time to eat later tonight. When he got back to the house, he sighed. It was a total mess, but he needed to finish his homework... Shinichi groaned and started picking up some stuff. He picked up all the clutter and threw away all the trash. By the time he finished that, it was time for lunch and he was starving. Maybe he should go out to a café or something. He checked his wallet and noticed he didn't have enough money for that. He groaned yet again as he was stuck eating sandwiches. He sighed and began making his sandwiches.

His phone started ringing, "Hello?"

"Yo, Kudo! How's it going?" A familiar Osakan accent greeted him.

"Oh hey, Hattori. It's going alright."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing." Shinichi said sighing.

"It doesn't sound like nothing to me." Shinichi could hear the frown in his friend's voice.

"It's just, I'm always so busy with catching up on homework, the occasional cases, and cleaning this house. Plus, I forgot to go get groceries for the next two weeks. I guess, I'm just a little stressed." And tired...

"It sounds to me like you need a vacation."

"I wish it were that easy."

"Isn't it?"

"Well, I can't exactly drop what I'm doing and leave."

"Why not?" Shinichi didn't understand what his friend was saying. Was he acting dumb on purpose? Shinichi wouldn't put it past Hattori to do that just to annoy him.

"Because I'm helping Kogorou-san out with a case, the house is a mess, and I'm nearly finished with the homework."

"Well, how about after you help out Oji-san and finish up the homework, I can come by and help you clean house. It should go faster with the two of us right?"

"Yeah," Shinichi said uncertainly.

"Great! Then after we finish cleaning, since it's the weekend, why don't you come with Kazuha and I on a camping trip? You can bring Nee-chan too. We're sharing the campsite with some other kids from Ekoda or something, but it'll get you out of the house and we can catch up on some cases we've been on."

"Alright, I don't mind, but first I have to help Kogorou-san with the case. Hopefully we can solve it by the end of tonight."

"What's going on tonight?" Hattori asked curious.

"The client is throwing a celebration party for his employees and I have this feeling that whoever is making the client uneasy is going to put their plan into motion tonight."

"Hm, that means we'd only be able to camp for one evening then..."

"Maybe we can do that next weekend."

"Alright, but I'm holding you to it." Shinichi just knew the Osakan was grinning. He rolled his eyes.

"That's fine."

"I'll still come over and help you clean though. We can do that tomorrow right?"

"Yeah,"

"Great! See you tomorrow, Kudo!" Then his energetic friend hung up. Shinichi shook his head. He was glad that Hattori called and made plans for a camping trip. That means he'll get to relax for once and he was very grateful for Hattori's help with the messy house. Shinichi went back to eating his sandwiches and started on his homework again afterwards.

By the time he had finished his homework, he was ready to fall asleep. He still had twenty minutes before his alarm went off. Maybe a small nap wouldn't hurt. Shinichi thought closing his eyes. Shinichi woke up later to someone shaking him. "Shinichi! Mou~ you should have already been getting ready!" It was Ran. Shinichi noticed as he began to wake up.

"Gomenasai, Ran." Shinichi mumbled as he stood up, stretching slightly. He'd fallen asleep on the couch. "What time is it?"

"6:30,"

"Thanks," Shinichi still had some time to shower and get dressed. In the end, he decided to wear his black suit. When he went back down the stairs, it was almost 7:00.

"Come on," Ran said dragging him out the door.

"Let me lock my door," Shinichi said scowling slightly. She rolled her eyes. Finally the two made it to Sakaguchi-san's office, where Kogorou-san and Sakaguchi-san were waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Kogorou-san asked scowling slightly.

"Gomen that was my fault. I fell asleep." Shinichi said a bit guiltily. Kogorou-san huffed.

"Maa maa, Detective Mouri-san. It's time to go inside. The party will be taking place in lounge area." Sakaguchi-san said smiling at the group. The group nodded and followed Sakaguchi-san inside. Shinichi wondered how this was going to work. He was pretty sure Kogorou-san's face was still recognizable to most people and his own face had been in the newspaper a few times over the past three months. Plus, Ran was the national Karate Champion and anyone who kept up with stuff like that, would know who the national Karate Champion is. Well, this was going to be interesting.

Shinichi did feel a little better after the hour nap he had. He'd feel even better if he slept some more, but this was important. They were here to stop a theft and a possible act of murder. "Alright, in about twenty minutes, I'll be going up on stage to give a speech. You can use this time to talk to Fukuda-san and Takeda-san." Sakaguchi-san told them quietly as they made it to the entrance of the lounge.

"Sakaguchi-san, I was wondering when you'd get here!" A woman with dark brown hair, said walking up to the group. She was wearing glasses and a black ball-gown type dress; as expected of someone dressing up for a formal party. Shinichi noticed something strange with her ears, like she was wearing an ear piece. He took a swift glance around the room and noticed that none of the other party-goers were wearing one. So who was wearing the other ear piece?

"Ah, Takeda-san. I was waiting on my friend here. This is Hoshi Sugaru-san and his family, Ran and Shinichi." Shinichi wanted to laugh at the name, but restrained himself. He wondered if Sakaguchi-san and Kogorou-san spent all evening trying to come up with a name. At first Takeda-san looked suspicious, but eventually she shook it off and smiled at the three.

"It's nice to meet you Hoshi-san, Ran-chan, Shinichi-kun."

"Likewise," Ran said smiling at her. Shinichi nodded to her.

"Where's Fukuda-san? I thought for sure he would be with you." Sakaguchi-san asked her. She shrugged.

"We came here together, but then he said he had to use the bathroom." Shinichi wondered if that was really true.

"Well, if you see him, tell him that I want to talk to him." Sakaguchi-san told her, with a strange look in his eyes. That's weird... why did Sakaguchi-san do that? Shinichi wondered as the said man left the four to their own devices.

"So have you known Sakaguchi-san long?" Kogorou-san asked Takeda-san.

"Oh yes. I've worked under him for almost twenty years now." She said smiling. "He's a wonderful boss, really. I couldn't ask for a better one." That just sounded fake to Shinichi, but he didn't comment on it. He decided that when the time was right, he would call her out on it. "Feel free to have some food from the buffet table. There's plenty for everyone." She said, before excusing herself.

"She seems nice." Ran said smiling.

"Yeah," Shinichi said thoughtfully. Kogorou-san stared at him for a few seconds before turning to Ran.

"Let me know if you run into Fukuda-san. I would like to talk to him too." Ran nodded. "I'm going to have a look at that buffet table." Shinichi rolled his eyes as the older detective took off to the buffet table.

"Of course he would do that." Ran said sighing. Shinichi chuckled.

"He sure hasn't changed much since the last time I saw him." She smiled.

"Yeah, I'm glad though. I thought for sure he'd start acting strange after everything, but he's acting like he normally does."

"That's good," Shinichi knew for sure that Kogorou-san was still angry with him, but didn't share that information with Ran. He didn't want to end up getting into an argument with her.

"So what are your thoughts on this case so far?" Ran asked him curiously. Shinichi shrugged.

"I can't be sure until I find some evidence, but I'm pretty sure Takeda-san, Fukuda-san, and Sakaguchi-san are hiding something. At least Takeda-san and Sakaguchi-san, since we haven't met Fukuda-san yet."

"Hiding something? What do you mean?"

"I just think it's strange that Sakaguchi-san wants to talk to Fukuda-san. It sounds suspicious. I thought for sure, since we're doing this, Sakaguchi-san would only keep things casual with the other two, but from the way he sounded earlier, he wanted to talk to Fukuda-san alone. And usually things like that never end well." Ran nodded.

"Yeah..."

"I also noticed Takeda-san wearing an ear piece."

"Like a device to communicate with another person?"

"Yeah," She frowned.

"Who do you think is on the other end?"

"I think it's a safe bet to say it's Fukuda-san." Shinichi said determined.

"Should we tell Otou-san?"

"Yeah, he'll want to know something this important." She nodded and the two went to fetch the older detective.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shinichi and Ran found the older detective stuffing his face at a nearby table. "He's so embarrassing." Ran said red-faced. Shinichi chuckled.

"He wouldn't be your dad if he wasn't." She smiled.

"That's true."

"Otou-san," Shinichi greeted him, playing his part. "There's something we need to tell you." Kogorou-san stopped what he was doing and gave him a curious look. Shinichi gestured towards a more secluded place and the older detective nodded. The three made their way to the secluded area. Kogorou-san of course brought his food.

"What did you find out?"

"Well, I saw an ear piece in Takeda-san's ear earlier. I looked around and none of the other guests have them." Shinichi answered, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one could overhear them.

"Hm, then it's possible that Fukuda-san has the other one. Also, I think it's strange that Sakaguchi-san wanted to talk to Fukuda-san in private."

"Yeah, that did strike me as a little weird. So it seems Takeda-san and Sakaguchi-san are hiding something."

"And it's a definite possibility that Fukuda-san is in on it too." Shinichi was glad that Kogorou-san was on the same page as him. It would've been harder to convince the older detective anything otherwise, unless you had solid proof.

"So what should we do?" Ran asked worriedly. Before either two detectives could answer, the lights dimmed and a spotlight appeared over Sakaguchi-san, who was now standing on the stage.

"Good evening everyone. I do hope you're all enjoying the evening so far." He paused as a few people cheered and clapped. He smiled. "I would like to congratulate everyone on a job well done for this month. If we keep up the good work, then I'm sure we'll continue to do great next month. I would like to offer a toast to everyone for their hard work. To hard work!" Everyone repeated it and took a sip of their drink. "Alright, I'll leave you all to enjoy the rest of the evening." Then Sakaguchi-san stepped down from the stage and the lights returned to normal. The other party goers went back to their conversations before Sakaguchi-san said his speech.

"Hm, that's weird." Shinichi subconsciously muttered to himself.

"What's weird?" Ran asked curiously.

"Ah," Shinichi said in shock. He hadn't realized he'd said it out loud. "I was just thinking, normally after a speech like that a few people would approach Sakaguchi-san, right?"

"Yeah," Ran said nodding.

"But no one has gone up to him." Kogorou-san said thoughtfully as he finally finished his plate of food.

"Eh, Sakaguchi-san is leaving!" Ran said wide-eyed. Shinichi and Kogorou-san both looked towards the doors and surely enough, Sakaguchi-san was leaving.

"Isn't that Takeda-san following him?" Kogorou-san asked frowning.

"Yeah, and I'm willing to bet that man following those two is Fukuda-san." Shinichi said wanting to so badly follow the three.

"Ah, Hoshi-san, correct?" The three paused and looked to see a fairly large man approaching them. He was wearing a tan suit and had brown hair, but he had a few bald spots.

"Y-Yes, that's me. And you are?"

"I'm Jurou Taichi. I heard you're an old friend of Sakaguchi-san."

"Yes, this is the first time I've seen him in three years." Shinichi assumed that this was the story Sakaguchi-san had told Kogorou-san.

"We'll let you two talk." Ran said smiling at Kogorou-san.

"But,"

"Don't worry, Otou-san. We won't go far." Shinichi said smiling at the older detective too.

"Alright, but don't cause any trouble you two." Kogorou-san said scowling slightly

"Hai," Shinichi and Ran answered as they took off to follow Sakaguchi-san, Fukuda-san, and Takeda-san.

"It's weird calling your dad, Otou-san..." Shinichi muttered as he and Ran made it out of the room. They saw Sakaguchi-san heading for the elevators. Ran giggled.

"I'm sure it's weird for Otou-san, too." Shinichi chuckled. "Where do you think Sakaguchi-san and the other two are heading?"

"Probably his office. I don't see anyone guarding Sakaguchi-san either." Ran frowned.

"What should we do, Shinichi?"

"Let's follow them upstairs. I want you to keep an eye on the emergency exit and I'll watch Sakaguchi-san's office. Here," Shinichi gave Ran a small object.

"Is this a Detective Badge?" Ran asked confused.

"Yeah, Agasa Hakase let me keep a few of them in case I ever needed them. I have another one. So if anything happens, you can contact me through the Detective Badge." Shinichi was glad that Agasa Hakase let him have them. He had a feeling he would probably need them.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Shinichi and Ran slowly made their way up to Sakaguchi-san's office. The door to Sakaguchi-san's office was closed. "Be quiet as you go by." Shinichi whispered. "Remember what I told you." Ran nodded and snuck down to the emergency exit. Shinichi quietly made his way to Sakaguchi-san's office door and tried to see if he could hear anything. He heard two voices that sounded like they were having a heated argument. Shinichi could clearly hear Sakaguchi-san and since the other voice was unfamiliar, he assumed that Fukuda-san. He couldn't tell what they were arguing about, but Shinichi had a bad feeling about this. And where was Takeda-san? Didn't she come up with them? Shinichi hoped Ran didn't run into her. He had two choices, one; knock on the door and make up some excuse to interrupt them, or two; wait until the right moment and walk in there and try to stop Fukuda-san if he tries to kill Sakaguchi-san. A sudden loud noise from the office snapped Shinichi out of his thoughts. He went to the door and listened carefully as the sound of someone walking around the room reached his ears. Was that Sakaguchi-san or was it Fukuda-san?

"Shinichi?" Shinichi almost jumped out of his skin. It was Ran contacting him over the Detective badge. She whispered, so it shouldn't scare whoever it is that's walking around in the office.

"What is it?" He asked, backing away from the door a little.

"There's a weird noise coming from outside the door."

"What does it sound like?"

"Just listen." Shinichi heard silence for a second before he started hearing what sounded like someone was putting something on the outside of the exit door. He also heard the sound of tape being torn and was that buttons making beeping sound? "What do you think, Shinichi?"

"I think you should come back to me. I think something happened to Sakaguchi-san."

"Okay." Shinichi wanted to make sure it wasn't a bomb that person was putting there and if it was, then he didn't want Ran anywhere near it. Plus that person could be Takeda-san and who knows what her mindset is right now. If she was planting bombs on the building, was she planning on taking out the whole building? Or was she just after Sakaguchi-san? It wasn't long before Ran was by his side, but by then, the person who was walking around in the office was getting ready to open the door. So, Ran and Shinichi hid in a dark corner. There was only one light on in the hallway, so that made it easier for them to keep hidden. Shinichi caught the back of Sakaguchi-san hurrying back to the party. "Shinichi, wasn't that Sakaguchi-san?"

"Yes, so, maybe Fukuda-san is the one that got into some trouble." Shinichi muttered.

"Should we go check out the office?"

"I'll go check it out, you go get your dad." She nodded and hurried off to the party. Shinichi sighed to himself and went over to Sakaguchi-san's office. He saw an unfamiliar man lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Shinichi checked for a pulse but the man was gone. He had a feeling that was Fukuda-san. Shinichi also noticed that the safe was open and whatever documents that were in it, were gone. Did Sakaguchi-san take them?

"What happened?" Kogorou-san asked coming into the room out of breath.

"It looks like Sakaguchi-san hasn't been very honest with us." Shinichi said grimly.

"Is this Fukuda-san?"

"I didn't check his wallet, but I'm assuming so."

"Ran, call the police." Shinichi just now noticed that she had entered the room. Ran nodded and pulled out her phone.

"Where's Sakaguchi-san?"

"He's making another speech. He told me earlier this evening that he was going to make an announcement to the employees near the end of the party." Shinichi frowned.

"Well, those important documents in Sakaguchi-san's safe are gone and I can only assume that he's the one that has them." The older detective's eyes went wide.

"Megure-keibu is on his way." Ran informed the two.

"If Sakaguchi-san has the papers, you don't think he would destroy his own company, would he?" Kogorou-san said frowning.

"At this point, I can't be for sure."

"Alright, I'll wait for Megure-keibu, you two listen to Sakaguchi-san's speech, okay?"

"Okay," The two teens said nodding. The three of them headed back towards the party. Kogorou-san went towards the doors, but Ran and Shinichi went right into the lobby area. Sakaguchi-san was standing on the stage again. Shinichi noticed a bulge in Sakaguchi-san's pocket. That must be where the documents are.

"Good evening, everyone. I have announcement to make." Shinichi frowned. "I'm sorry to say, but our company is dying. We're not making enough money as it is, so I'm sorry to inform you that this company will be shut down in two weeks." Shinichi saw the shock and confusion that coursed through the crowd. "Now, I know what you're thinking. What about your jobs? Well, I've put in a good word about all of you to other companies according to your résumés. In a few weeks' time, you should be getting a phone call from the said companies and it is up to you whether or not you want to accept the job offer." Where was Sakaguchi-san going with this? "I apologize for the inconvenience and last minute notice. Thank you all for coming tonight and I hope you pass this on to those who didn't attend." Sakaguchi-san excused himself. Shinichi decided to go find Kogorou-san and tell him what's going on.

"What do you think Sakaguchi-san has planned?" Ran asked as she followed him.

"I'm not sure, but it is weird." What was the point in taking the documents? And what exactly was on them that was so bad?

"What happened?" The older detective asked, just as Megure-keibu and the rest of Division 1 showed up.

"Sakaguchi-san just announced that the company will be shutting down in two weeks." Shinichi said still frowning.

"What? Why?"

"He said they weren't making enough money. But I think he's hiding something. I believe he has the documents in his pocket; I saw a bulge in his pocket."

"Mouri-kun, how are you?" Megure-keibu greeted as he, Takagi-keiji, and Satou-keiji walked up to them. "Ah, Ran-kun and Kudo-kun, it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Megure-keibu." Shinichi said smiling.

"So there's been a murder?" Megure-keibu asked curiously.

"A suspected murder." Shinichi corrected. "Since I didn't really see it myself, but there was only one other person in the room when the victim died."

"I see, and the victim's name is?"

"Fukuda Daiki-san." Kogorou-san answered. "Or at least, we suspect that's his name, since we haven't officially met the man."

"And what makes you think the victim is Fukuda-san?" Takagi-keiji asked curiously.

"Well, Sakaguchi-san, my client, told another employee, Takeda Kaori-san, that if she saw Fukuda-san then tell him that Sakaguchi-san wanted to talk to him in private."

"Do you have anyone in mind who would kill Fukuda-san?" Megure-keibu asked.

"Sakaguchi-san was the one who was in the room with Fukuda-san right before he was murdered." Shinichi answered. "I was standing outside Sakaguchi-san's office door when it happened. The two were arguing for about five to ten minutes and then I heard Fukuda-san's body hit the floor. Not long after, Sakaguchi-san left the office."

"Oh, Shinichi, we need to tell them about the noise I heard!" Ran said suddenly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." His thoughts were so consumed about Sakaguchi-san shutting his company down. "We heard what sounded like someone putting a bomb on the outside of the exit door near Sakaguchi-san's office."

"A bomb!?" Takagi-keiji said surprised.

"Shh! We don't know for sure that it's a bomb. We didn't really have enough time to go check it out." Shinichi said looking over his shoulder, making sure no one was around. There was no need to cause panic.

"R-Right, sorry."

"Anyways, Takagi-kun, go check out that exit door. Satou-kun, get the forensics team and follow us to Sakaguchi-san's office." Megure-keibu ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The two said before doing what they were told to do.

"Mouri-kun, what exactly did Sakaguchi-san want you to look at?"

"He wanted me to find out what Fukuda-san and Takeda-san were up to since they were acting a little weird for the last couple of weeks. He told us that someone had been running up and down the hallway and slamming the exit door for the last few weeks as well. He said that nothing was stolen during the time he went to check out the exit door, so we thought that maybe someone planned on stealing something from his office tonight. He asked that I go undercover as a family friend with two children. That's why Ran and Shinichi-kun are here." Kogorou-san said sighing. "Just what is this guy thinking?"

"Kudo-kun, why were you and Ran-kun near Sakaguchi-san's office?"

"We noticed that Takeda-san was wearing an ear piece and assumed that Fukuda-san was wearing one as well. After Sakaguchi-san made his first speech, we saw him, Fukuda-san, and Takeda-san leaving the party and followed them up to the office. Only, Takeda-san went missing somewhere between leaving the party and going to Sakaguchi-san's office."

"And you didn't see where she went to?"

"No, the hallway as you can see is dimly lit, so she probably hid in the shadows and took off. I don't think she saw us, or she would've said something." Megure-keibu nodded.

"Does Sakaguchi-san have a safe in his office?"

"Yes, he kept important documents in there and we suspect that after Fukuda-san was killed, he took the papers. According to him, the documents could mean harm towards his company in the wrong hands. Just not too long ago, he announced that he was shutting his company down due to not making enough money." Kogorou-san answered.

"I see, I'll have Shirotori-kun look into his company's finances." Megure-keibu said thoughtfully. He pulled out his phone and after about two or three minutes, he was hanging it up again. "In the meantime, let's have a look at the victim's body." So the group, including the forensics team and Satou-keiji, made their way to Sakaguchi-san's office. Ran was told to stay at the party and keep an eye on Sakaguchi-san.

"If he leaves, just tell me on the Detective badge okay?" Shinichi told her.

"Okay," She said smiling. Soon, they were all in Sakaguchi-san's office.

"So this is Fukuda Daiki-san." Megure-keibu said after the forensics team went over everything. A driver's license was found in Fukuda-san's wallet. "What did you find, Tome-san?"

"Well, it looks like blunt force trauma. There's a wound on the back of his head and the blood pool around his head matches up." Tome-san said immediately.

"Did you find the murder weapon?"

"No, there wasn't any blood on anything that could be used as a makeshift weapon. We checked the trashcan and places where it could be hidden, but we didn't find anything."

"I see," Maybe that bulge was…

"Megure-keibu, that bulge I saw in Sakaguchi-san's pocket it might be the weapon…" Shinichi said thoughtfully. He didn't even think about that. He must be pretty tired if he didn't think of that. Before Megure-keibu could say anything, his phone rang.

"This is Megure. Ah, Shiratori-kun, what did you find?" Megure-keibu was silent for a moment. "I see, thank you, Shiratori-kun. Please keep up the good work."

"What did he find out?" Kogorou-san asked.

"It seems Sakaguchi-san is lying about his reason for shutting down his company. His company's finances are doing just fine. It looks like we can't avoid keeping this from Sakaguchi-san much longer."

"Megure-keibu!" Takagi-keiji said running into the room, out of breath as he does on almost every case Shinichi has been involved with him so far.

"Takagi-kun, what is it?"

"The noise Ran-san and Kudo-kun heard was someone putting a bomb on the door. I already called the bomb squad and they've already taken care of it."

"Good. Satou-kun, I would like you and Takagi-kun to go find Takeda Kaori-san and Sakaguchi-san and bring them both here."

"Yes, sir!" The two ran out of the room.

"Kudo-kun, please contact Ran-san and let her know what's going on. I would like her to return here as well." Shinichi nodded and pulled out the Detective Badge.

"Ran? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"Come up to Sakaguchi-san's office. Takagi-keiji and Satou-keiji are coming to get Takeda-san and Sakaguchi-san."

"Okay, I'm on my way." Shinichi hoped that they would get to the bottom of this and that there weren't any more bombs.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

About ten minutes later, Takagi-keiji ran back into the room, out of breath. "Bad news, Megure-keibu. Sakaguchi-san and Takeda-san both took Ran-san hostage and have taken off in a car."

"What!?" Shinichi and Kogorou-san said together.

"Takagi-kun, did you get a plate number?"

"No, I'm sorry. They took off too fast. They made a big scene at the party, so Satou-san is trying to calm everyone down." Shinichi frowned.

"The Detective Badge has a tracking device in it, but I don't have the glasses that receives the signal from them."

"Where are they at?" Kogorou-san asked in all seriousness.

"They're with Agasa Hakase."

"Alright, I'll take you to get them." Shinichi nodded.

"Don't go after those two by yourself, you got it?" Megure-keibu said to them both very sternly.

"Yes, sir." The two said, but Shinichi knew that Kogorou-san wasn't just going to sit there and wait to get back to Megure-keibu before going after Ran. Megure-keibu seemed to have read his mind, because then he said,

"I'll send a few squad cars with you just in case though." The older detective nodded and after thanking him the two left.

"The tracking device does have a limit to a perimeter of 50 meters, so we'll have to be quick." Shinichi warned the older detective.

"Alright," Just as the two left the building though, Shinichi spotted Haibara and the other three.

"We may not have to go to Agasa Hakase's after all." He said before going to Haibara.

"Ne, Haibara, do you happen to have the glasses on you?" Shinichi asked her as the other three went inside a neighboring convenience store to get something. She frowned.

"I'm assuming it's for a case."

"Yeah, a few suspects took Ran hostage and she has one of the Detective Badges on her." She nodded.

"Here, I was planning on using them to keep those three in my sight, but this is far more important."

"Thanks a lot." Shinichi said smiling at her as she handed him the glasses.

"It's no problem. I'm not sure how much battery life is left in those, so be warned." Shinichi nodded as she went into the convenience store, when she spotted Genta and Mitsuhiko starting to argue. Shinichi returned to Kogorou-san with the glasses.

"We don't have to go after all." Kogorou-san nodded as Shinichi put the glasses on and turned them on.

"They're heading towards the outer parts of town near some old warehouses nearby. I bet Sakaguchi-san has one for storage."

"Alright, let's go let Megure-keibu know." Shinichi ran back to Sakaguchi-san's office with the older detective and in no time, they explained to Megure-keibu where Sakaguchi-san was headed.

"Alright, I'll get some men out. You two can go with Satou-kun and Takagi-kun. They're waiting outside for you." The two nodded and finally they were able to get on the road and start looking for Ran.

"Which way are they headed, Kudo-kun?" Satou-keiji asked as she turned down the street.

"They're headed north towards the old broken down warehouses." She nodded and pushed the gas pedal down more. Shinichi was glad he was wearing his seat belt. Kogorou-san held onto whatever he could from toppling over. Shinichi would've laughed, but they were in the middle of something completely serious. Shinichi wondered why Ran didn't use her karate to stop Sakaguchi-san and Takeda-san. Was it because they had a gun? Ran wasn't afraid to go against someone with a gun pointed at her. Maybe she didn't want any of the party goers to get hurt. That sounded like something Ran would do. It didn't take long before they got to the warehouses. The group got out of the car and with the glasses, they narrowed down which warehouse Sakaguchi-san, Takeda-san, and Ran would be. By the time they were getting close to them, the battery for the glasses died. Shinichi cursed quietly.

"The battery died." He whispered when the other three looked at him.

"It's okay, we know where the general location is." Satou-keiji whispered. Shinichi removed the glasses and put them in his pocket. Hopefully they found Ran before something happens to her. Shinichi and Kogorou-san followed the two police officers as they rounded a corner. Shinichi froze when he spotted Sakaguchi-san and Takeda-san holding Ran at gun point and was leading her into one of the buildings. Ran looked angry and a little scared. Shinichi believed in her though. He knew that when she spotted an opening, she would take out the two of them with her karate. He just hoped that when she did do that, she wouldn't end up getting hurt. Satou-keiji held her arm out, causing everyone to pause. Sakaguchi-san, Takeda-san, and Ran all entered the building. "I'm going to call back up. No body make a move or do something stupid until back up gets here." Shinichi didn't want to wait, but he had to if he wanted to help Ran.

It didn't take long before back up came and soon Satou-keiji was giving them commands. "Okay, everyone knows what to do, let's go!" Satou-keiji said as she led the whole group into the warehouse. "Freeze! This is the police, put your hands above your heads!" She yelled as they walked in, but then she looked confused. Shinichi pushed past some of the back-up guys and almost started laughing. Instead he chuckled. Ran had taken out both Sakaguchi-san and Takeda-san with her karate. The two suspects were lying on the ground groaning. Shinichi was relieved to see that Ran was okay.

"Ran, you should let the police do their job." Shinichi said teasingly. She blushed.

"Oh shut up." Kogorou-san pushed past everyone and hugged Ran.

"Ran, are you okay?" Ran smiled.

"Otou-san, I'm okay." Kogorou-san sniffled dramatically.

"I thought I was going to lose you!"

"Mou~ Otou-san calm down!" Shinichi chuckled to himself and let himself outside the warehouse as Satou-keiji had the back-up arrest the suspects and Takagi-keiji called Megure-keibu to give him the news. Shinichi was tired that's for sure. He thought as they all went down to the police station to do Witness Reports. Shinichi didn't want to bother with it, but he knew he had to. It was procedure. Plus, he still had to return the glasses to Agasa Hakase. "Oh, Shinichi, I'm sorry. The badge got broken." Ran said holding out the badge to him, after they were free to go.

"Oh, it's no problem. Agasa Hakase can fix it." He said taking it from her.

"That's good." She looked kind of nervous now. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Hm, I'm finishing up some last minute homework and then I'm cleaning the house. Hattori called and said he was going to come over and help."

"Is Kazuha-chan coming?"

"I'd imagine so." Shinichi knew from what he had heard from Hattori, that Toyama-san took any chance to come see Ran.

"Do you mind if I come over to help clean your house?"

"Not at all." Shinichi was going to have a full house tomorrow. He better stop by the convenience store and get some snacks. She smiled.

"Great, see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Shinichi said as she took off after her Dad. Shinichi yawned for the umpteenth time today and trudged to the bus stop. Hopefully he'll make it in time to catch the last bus. As bad as his luck is, he unsurprisingly missed the bus. Now he had to walk all the way home. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He sighed and started walking. He stopped by the convenience store, but remembered he didn't have any money and nearly groaned. He didn't have anything to snack on for tomorrow. Shinichi considered this an emergency and figured his Dad wouldn't mind if he used the credit card. He got the snacks and then headed home. He'll return the glasses tomorrow. Shinichi thought when he finally made it home.

"Oi, Kudo, it's about time you showed up!" Shinichi squinted his eyes into the darkness before he spotted Hattori by his front door.

"Hattori? I thought you wouldn't be here until tomorrow morning." Shinichi said tiredly.

"Well, Kazuha wanted to come and both our parents are out tonight, so we decided to come early. You don't mind if we stay over do you?"

"No. Where is Toyama-san?"

"She's next door. I'll go get her." Shinichi nodded. Good, it would give him some time to clean up a little and find rooms for them to stay in. He thought as he unlocked the door and went inside. He immediately put all his homework away and straightened up a few things. Since there was only one guest bedroom, Shinichi decided to let Hattori stay in his room. After getting the rooms ready, Shinichi heard Hattori and Toyama-san bickering as they entered the house. Shinichi sighed to himself before going to meet them.

"You have a nice house, Kudo-kun." Toyama-san said when he got downstairs.

"Thank you," He said smiling tiredly.

"We've already had dinner, so where do we sleep?" Hattori asked curiously.

"Follow me," He said, glad that he could go straight to bed.

"Thank you for letting us stay over." Toyama-san said smiling at him.

"It's no problem at all." Shinichi said as they got to the guest room. "This will be your room and Hattori, you'll be sleeping in my room. The bathroom is just down the hall on the left."

"Thank you," She said again before going into the room.

"Where's your room?" Hattori asked curiously.

"Over here," Shinichi said as he led Hattori a few doors down the hall. Most of the doors on this floor were either closets or a secret place that his parents had the contractors build. He never went into those rooms because he was told as a kid not to go in them. Of course there were a few times where he almost got into the rooms but his mom caught him every time he attempted to go in. "Sorry for the mess." Hattori shrugged.

"It can't be any messier than mine." That's true, Shinichi thought, thinking of the last time he was in Hattori's room. "Dude, it's not even that messy." Hattori said rolling his eyes. Shinichi shrugged, yawning a little. He grabbed the extra blankets and pillows and made up a pallet for Hattori to sleep on. After teens had settled in and the lights were out, Shinichi lay in his bed, waiting for sleep to come. A lot had happened today and he wondered what tomorrow would bring him. Hopefully, he'll be able to catch up on some of his sleep. He thought turning over and closing his eyes. It didn't take long for him to get to sleep.

 _The End_


End file.
